


Hiding in Plain Sight

by ried (riiiied)



Category: Folgers "Home for the Holidays" Commercial
Genre: F/M, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-08-22 18:16:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8295358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/riiiied/pseuds/ried
Summary: Someday, maybe they'll be able to go somewhere nobody will recognize them. But for now, a discreet trip to a café some towns away would do.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [prosodiical](https://archiveofourown.org/users/prosodiical/gifts).



They were used to having to hide.

The lingering glances that had to be rid of the moment their parents came down to welcome him. During dinner, secretly tangling their hands below the table, knees way closer to each other's than they should be. Her escorting him to his room at bedtime with the excuse that he might've forgotten after all this time, staying around just long enough not to alert their parents. Hands brushing together excessively during house decorating the next day, little cheek and forehead kisses sneaked when their parents were looking the other way. Each moment too short, and the worry of being seen was always on the back on their minds.

But maybe not this time.

“Carrot cake? I thought you hated all sorts of vegetables.”

Under the excuse of a renewal of sibling bonding (not quite a lie, though it very definitely does not actually mean what their parents expected), they had driven to a quaint little café a few towns away. Apparently it had got good reviews online, but more importantly, it was far enough that there were less chance of meeting someone who knew both of them well and who they were to each other. Their orders have just arrived, coffees for each of them and the cake for her.

She took the fork and pointed it at him. “One, that was no longer true even before you left. Two, cake is cake, and cake is delicious.” With that, she cut a small piece to eat.

“So? How is it?”

She continued munching, an exaggerated thoughtful expression on her face. “Why don't you try for yourself?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Sure, why not.” Except she didn't let go of the fork even as he stretched his hand for it. “I thought you told me to have some myself.”

“I just told you to try some for yourself, though.”

“Isn't that just the same?”

“Not exactly.” She cut another piece of the cake, but instead of bringing it to her mouth, she pointed the fork in front of her. Understanding the meaning of the gesture in a moment, he leaned forward to eat the piece from her fork. “So?” she asked with a smile, wiggling the fork.

He put on a mimicry of her mock-thoughtful look from earlier. “I can definitely see why someone would change their mind on vegetables after this.”

She scoffed. “This doesn't even count as a vegetable dish, though, even with 'carrot' right there in the name.” She was about to grab the fork for herself again, but this time, he had put a piece of the cake on it and offered it in front of her face, which she gladly accepted. “More?”

“Sure, sure. Ah, wait a minute.” He reached out a hand towards the side of her mouth. “Sheesh, just because you like cake that much doesn't mean you need to get all messy about it, you know?”

“And just who have been feeding me that messily so far?” she teased, but his expression remained solemn in response, his hand still touching her cheek. “...hey?”

As if on cue, his face closed in towards her, and his lips were on hers, not for too long, but longer than they'd ever did when at home. As he pulled back, suddenly struck by what he'd done, he started scanning around them, to see if anyone had noticed and was scorning them for it. But if anyone did notice, nobody had any reaction to it – none of their acquaintances among the other café patrons or staff, and to them, the two of them could be just any usual couple out on a date, not worth remarking much upon.

“Good thing we came all the way down here, eh?” It was her who broke the silence, a wistful expression on her face.

“Yeah.” He reached out a hand, now towards her hand, tangling his fingers in hers. Again, nobody took any particular notice.

“Maybe we should try somewhere even further next time,” she joked.

But again, he wasn't chuckling, contrary to her expectation. “...then, what do you say about coming with me when I go back to Africa?”

“Huh?”

“Nobody needs to know that you're my sister there,” he said, ensuring to keep his voice low – even if nobody else knew that they were siblings yet, that would be over if he inadvertently told them himself.

“Oh? So you haven't told anyone about your darling little sister yet?”

This time, he did smirk in response. “I did tell some stories, but nobody really took a close look at photos or anything. And if anyone actually did spot some similarities, I can just joke about how much you actually look like my mother and Oedipus Complex and whatnot.”

“Why, you,” she said as she punched his shoulder lightly. “Still, the org will ask question,s won't they? And what if somehow, our parents or anyone else we know here somehow got ahold of what's happening...”

“We're already doing something like that now, aren't we?”

“Not as big scale as you seem to be proposing, though.”

He let out a dry laugh. “Well, I guess we'll have to settle for drives this far away from home for now, then?”

She shrugged. “I guess. And speaking of long drives… probably it's high time for us to start on the long one back home. There'll be questions if we didn't get back by dinner when we said we'd be.”

That was the point when he noticed that he was still holding her hand, and he tightened the grip before releasing it. These touches could never last long, and then there'd be stretches of forever again when both of them could only imagine the contact, until the next time he'd be able to come home. “Yeah, we should get going soon.” He started getting up, but stopped when he noticed that she wasn't following suit.

After a moment of silence, she started, “You know, the whole Africa plan might not be the most feasible thing, but what about just a trip somewhere a bit far? It doesn't have to be long, but it'd still be longer than… this.”

Trying to lighten up the mood, he said, “What, planning a runaway trip after saying we'll be spending the holidays with the family? When did you become such a schemer?”

She threw another light punch at him. “Not this time, dummy. But… next time you can take a holiday. You don't need to tell anyone else that you're coming back, and I don't need to tell anyone else who I'm meeting. We'll just be away somewhere, and no one else needs to know.”

His smile in response was mixed with uncertainty, but he still said, “Sure. Sounds like a plan, or at least the start of one. So… home for now?”

She started getting out of her seat as well. “Sure.”

And so started the long, but not long enough, drive back home. Back to playing brother and sister, stealing too short moments of intimacy. Maybe they were doomed to only ever have that much to themselves, maybe they'd someday pull through with the plan to go away somewhere far where no one would know about who they were really to each other. But for now, those small moments would have to do.


End file.
